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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCMeetingMinutes_05.18.06 Finance Committee("FinCom")Meeting Minutes May 18,2006 Attendance: Jack Watkins was the only member not in attendance. Town Manager Mark]tees and School Committee Chairman A] Perry were also present. A number of citizens sat in observance. Call to Order: Chairman Keith Mitchell("CM")called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. 11.Minutes of Last Meeting—May 4,2006: Paul Stewart motioned to approve the minutes as provided in the handout, with a second from Vice Chairman Mike Batsimm. The motion carried 7-0-1 with Eva Hamori abstaining. Ill.Old Business: A. FY07 Recommended Operating Budget: CM updated the members with the progress that was made to the School Department Budget. He noted that there were items added to the existing budget at the past meeting. With this introduction,he then asked Chairman Perry("CP")to elaborate on the task given to the staff when revising the budget. CP gave the members an overview of the process and expected the School Committee to review the budget at the upcoming working session on Tuesday,May 23,with a public hearing on Tuesday, May 30. At this time,he stated the School Committee has made no reductions in service and is looking at a level service budget. He further added the science initiative would not move forward. CP did project a reduction closer to$3.0 million than the current$3.3 million. Paul Stewart("APS")provided the members with a copy of the School Department presentation made the previous Tuesday. Melinda Coppa("MC")questioned the FY07 Special Education projections that have Circuit Breaker Reimbursements increasing 10%. MC further added this combined with the additional funding requested from the Special Education group appeared to be high compared to historical data she has tracked. CP countered this comment by stating it was a production of the working group;to which MC corrected him and noted this item was not discussed due to the lack of direction received by the Special Education Department. MC also noted the director calculated an increase of Circuit breaker closer to$8,000 and not 10%. CP requested MC send him an email with this question and he will follow up on it. CM then asked CP if he asked the staff to come up with revised list of cuts and noted the Municipal Department Managers stating they would have made different cuts than the Town Manager. CP instructed the staff to come up with a list of"Put backs"in$500,000 increments and not a revised cut list. MC then asked if the School Committee had a list of priorities for services;using Special Education and other mandatory requirements as an example for a top priority item. CP said the Committee did not have an exact list ,but identified some services that take priority when determining the Budget cuts. MC noted her concern over a fidget filled with errors and then only seeing items added back for:errors in charges to Community Programs, drought forward by Citizen Diana Headrick, Special Education offset by Circuit Breaker reimbursement and costs associated with the termination of Dr.Harutunian. She highlighted her observance of past board members, Selectmen included,not questioning the budget numbers presented or defining priorities within the budget they control,but rather accepting the numbers as is with no adjustments. CP expects the School Committee to look at this further in the working group session and noted Barbara Whidden is doing a significant amount of work to prepare for the meeting. CP also highlighted the increase in Special Education as a percentage of the total School Department budget,currently at 40%,creating problems for the whole budget. Steve Dawe questioned the timing of the audit. Mike Giarratano added his frustration in not receiving information in electronic form,even when it was clear it was prepared using electronic spreadsheets,and asked CP to hold the next Superintendent financially accountable byline item and not just the total. CP then informed the members on the progress of hiring an Interim Superintendent. MC queried whether the School Committee discussed the possibility of not hiring an Interim to save costs and teaching positions. CP noted the Assistant Superintendent's lack of experience and labeled him the"curriculum guy". CM moved the discussion to meeting with the Budget Communication Group on Wednesday,May 24. Eva Hamori will be unavailable and MC offered to attend in her absence. CM thanked CP for his time. Members then moved on to the Budget, using PPS's spreadsheet as a guide. MC then noted the new information sent out by the state(PPS had this available for a handout)and requested the State Assessments reflected those amounts that both the House and Senate Ways and Means agreed to. The group agreed to adjust the Assessments to these amounts. A discussion Finance Committee Meeting Minutes,May 18,2006 Page 2 A. FV07 Recommended Operating Budget(Continued): on the State Revenues ensued but no adjustments came about. Town Manager Mark Rees("MR")brought a DOR memo outlining the use of NESWC dissolution funds,instructing the town to let this item fall to free cash,and reminded the members of the amounts placed in --he stabilization fund and projected for use in the FY07 budget. He also provided a copy of the Town's :sponse in hopes of clearing the use of this amount for FY07. Steve Dawe then asked if the MR saw the article suggesting the combination of Andover and North Andover. Steve did not think it made sense but wanted to hear MR responses. MR agreed with him. The members then moved to discuss expense changes and queried MR whether there was support for raising fees. In answering MC,MR advised the members of the Board of Health ruling in favor of the Thomson transfer station proposal. He noted that passage of this will provide the community with weekly recycling pick up saving approximately$250,000. However,he added caution about using this for the FY07 budget and noted the opposition could send this into litigation. The members then discussed the possibility of reducing tonnage disposal and a fee for disposal such as a pay as you throw. There is a potential for this to happen on the floor of Town Meeting,in an effort to save teaching positions. A few members reminded others the School Department did not lay off as many staff as previously stated. However, the members did agree there is a need to be prepared for such a motion. There was a brief discussion on the desire to have a budget that all boards agree with. MC reiterated her concern with the School Committee's review and not prioritizing within the School budget. She identified the disparity among Elementary School Principals by highlighting one principal manages 707 students while another manages only 252 students. MC also added the appearance of disparities in salaries. CM noted a number of people surprised over the salary levels within the School Department and his hope of a reduced budget request following the Tuesday working session. Steve Dawe then reverted back to the trash issue and questioned whether the implementation of a trash fee should be done through an Enterprise Fund. CM noted this type of discussion is not in the realm of the FinCom but the Board of Selectmen. CM assigned PPS and Vice Chairman Batsimm to work together on the trash and report back to the members. MR advised the FinCom of an agreement with the School Committee to return the crossing guard costs to the Police Department and the lowering of the School Department allocation in return. B. Warrant Articles: PPS handed out a print out of Jack Watkins's proposed Stipend handout. Mike Giarratano provided additional comments. There was a brief discussion on the possibility of increasing the percentage of contribution by elected officials. It was noted this suggestion only covers the current year and still does not address the FinCom's main issue of health insurance in the retirement years(55+). PPS then presented his"budget completeness"proposal. MC noted this was tried in the past and did not move forward because of the restrictive financial system currently used. PPS stated this should be a goal for FY08 and agreed hold off making a formal motion until the next meeting. Finally, MR informed the members of cost overruns associated with police,fire and DPW response to the flooding. He also advised the possibility of receiving State(25%)and Federal(75%)reimbursement should the Federal government declare this a disaster area. IV.Adjournment:The members agreed to meet next week,May 25 at 6:30pm. At$:30 pm Steve Dawe made a motion,seconded by Vice Chairman 8atsimm to adjourn. The members unanimously voted to adjourn. Approved: Vote: X: